Bucks County Herald · “It’s a Living with Lisa,” by Lisa DeAngelis · May 15, 2025
“There is something incredibly fulfilling about steering your own course.”
The Bucks County Herald’s “It’s a Living with Lisa” column turned its attention to Melissa Wieczorek and Theo Petron — the couple behind Zest Culinary Services, and partners in business as much as in life. It’s the story behind the food: how two people who each started in other careers found their way to cooking for Bucks County, and built a personal chef and boutique catering company that’s now two decades in.
The piece traces the unlikely parallel paths that led here. Melissa grew up in Bucks County a self-described weekend gourmet, took the business degrees her parents encouraged, and spent a decade in higher education before the pull toward food won out and she launched her own personal chef service. Theo came from Minnesota’s Twin Cities by way of advertising sales, left it to cook, and built a personal chef business of his own — a thousand miles away. They met, went long distance, and eventually Theo relocated to Bucks County. Twenty years on, they’re still partners on both fronts.
Much of the column is about the shape of that partnership — the early days of both trying to do everything, and the turning point when they leaned into their strengths, with Theo leading the kitchen and Melissa running the business. It also names the people and local businesses who helped them get here, from a community bank willing to back a food business to the Point Pleasant Fire Company, which gave their commercial kitchen a home exactly when they needed one.
Twenty years of that partnership is what shows up on your table. See how we cook →